Aceh, new pro Sharia norm: women can not dance in public because it "fuels desire"

by Mathias Hariyadi

The norm, issued by the authorities of the district of North Aceh, has already provoked heated debate. According to critics it is a "bizarre" provision and without foundation in Islam. For the district chief dance "fuels" male desire and this is "not right". A choreographer and dancer: worry about corruption, not dance.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Another norm
based on Sharia is destined to provoke heated debate in the province of Aceh,
the only one in Indonesia - the world's most populous Muslim nation - in which
there is Islamic law. The
authorities of the district of North Aceh have in fact issued an edict forbidding
women to "dance in public." The
incident has sparked protests by human rights activists and ordinary citizens,
who describe the regulation as "bizarre."

The law that forbids women to
dance in public, recently completed but already a source of lively debate, was
signed by the head of the district of North Aceh Muhammad Thaib. He claims that the way in which women dance could
"easily fuel" corporal desire in men. And,
according to the dictates of Islam, "this is not right."

Among
the many who have taken to the streets to demonstrate, is a local dancer and choreographer
Affandi who says that such regulation is "unfounded" and beyond any
logic. "If
the authorities want to issue a regulation of any kind - he adds - they would do
better to deal with corruption, rather than targeting the arts." Although
he accepts the fact that Islam (the local version) prevents women from reciting
prayers in public, because their voice could "stir" men. But
in the case of dance, "there is no precise legal basis" to implement
such a restriction.